Months passed as I juggled both magic training and milk deliveries.

By then, I had learned how to make the most of my meager mana.

Instead of treating it as mere points, I could weave it into lines and surfaces, layering it for more efficient use.

Even Teacher Riedel had called me a “hardcore efficiency freak” with a look of shock.

On top of that, my body had grown stronger.

Splitting firewood in the mornings, deliveries by noon, farm work by evening—

What once left me unable to move now made me nearly the equal of the village’s strongest laborers.

In other words—

a magical girl with both magic and muscle, built for pure practicality, had been born.

And then, one day, on my way home from milk deliveries, I met a boy.

A face I didn’t recognize. About my age—or maybe a little younger.

His messy black hair framed eyes that carried a constant, wary fear.

“…Ah…”

The moment he saw me, he flinched.

For an instant, words stuck in my throat.

Because I knew that look. That mixture of fear and hostility.

(This presence… the final boss.)

The being I had clashed with in my previous life.

The Demon Lord, who fed on terror and cast shadows over countless hearts.

A fragment of him lingered now—in the boy standing before me.

“…What’s your name?”

“…Rei…”

He answered in a small voice. Rei—not the same name as before.

And though fear held him in place, he did not run.

That was when I understood.

He had no will to fight anymore.

“D-don’t come closer… I won’t do anything. I won’t use magic. I won’t scare anyone…”

(Ah…)

He knew. He understood what he once was. What his very nature was.

And yet, he was trying to cast it aside.

To live as just another boy in this world.

That was why I didn’t want to test him.

“I understand, Rei. I’m not using magic to fight anyone right now, either.”

I reached out my hand.

“If you ever need help, tell me. My magic only works because I want to protect people.”

He hesitated.

Then, slowly, his hand reached toward mine.

In that instant, a warm light flickered to life in my chest.

In our past lives, light and shadow could never meet.

But maybe now… just maybe, they could stand side by side.

Macikado Mai, age five.

The summer I chose to walk the same world as my former enemy.